The Danish government has decided that they no longer will accredit exchange student agencies in Denmark. The number of failed trips has given the Danish government a bad reputation. While it is unfair because the old system only checked up on the Danish part of the entire operation as the authorities had no right to interfere with operations abroad as they are regulated by local authorities, the official approval of individual organization gave a kind of false security to the families who had children who were thinking of taking a year abroad.

It was a situation none could live with. Not the Danish government. No the families who put the safety of their children in jeopardy.

The end came with the unfair treatment of the exchange student who traveled to Gay Mills and was sent home when the foster mom hacked her Facebook account. The criminal act committed by the foster mom led the entire Denmark understand that the exchange student concept must be abandoned.

So what now? Well it is safe to say that the entire system of exchange students is very much a thing which went by in the past. It has no longer a future in Denmark. The business has been exposed and while some organizations like Rotary properly will continue to send students abroad just to make a kind of political statement, parents who are of their right minds will keep their children home.

It is very positive new as the Danish culture is small and very easy to pollute with impressions from the outside world. With fewer young Danes meeting foreign cultures our culture might look forward towards brighter times.